A Bermudian woman who allegedly tried to hire a man to beat up or kill her husband will stand trial in a Boston court.

Loretta Burrows Marsh, 49, was arraigned in a West Roxbury District Court last Monday.

She was charged with attempting to commit a crime, but additional charges could be brought against her in upcoming weeks.

Mrs. Burrows Marsh was employed as a hairdresser while her husband Philip Marsh, 55, was an arson squad investigator based in Boston's Hyde Park section.

He was not present in court when his wife was arraigned with bail set at $200,000. It is understood that he went to nearby Quincy, Massachusetts, to seek a court order of protection against her.

The news of her arrest and subsequent arraignment was front page news in the Boston Herald newspaper which ran the story with a banner headline "Unto death do us part...''.

In the article, neighbours are said to be stunned to learn that Mrs. Burrows Marsh allegedly plotted to have a man enter their home through a door she would have left open. Once inside the second floor Randolph apartment, the man was to tie her up and take some jewellery.

She is said to have placed special emphasis on the theft of her wedding ring but it is not known whether it was insured.

If her husband resisted she is alleged to have told the hit man to break both his legs. If he was killed, however, that was an outcome she allegedly would have been happy with.

She is also alleged to have told the hit man that her husband had a life insurance policy worth $75,000 and she would share some of it with him.

But the hit man who she approached in Hyde Park on July 30 went to Boston Police and they arranged for a second meeting between the two.

The second encounter was captured on videotape and Mrs. Burrows Marsh insisted that the job was carried out by August 2.

A third meeting took place on the night of August 2 with an undercover Police officer posing as the would be attacker.